Transitions: Executive Changes for November 16, 2004

Selectica, a provider of solutions for automating the sales process, announced that Vincent Ostrosky has been named the company's new chairman, president, and CEO. Stephen Bennion, who served as interim CEO during the search process, will resume his full-time responsibilities as executive vice president and CFO. Ostrosky's main message to customers is that Selectica will stay true to its mission to deliver the most efficient and effective opportunity-to-order solution within the software industry. "We've carved out a space, and that's the space we want to be viewed dominantly in," Ostrosky told CRM magazine. "I'm bullish, I'm really happy to be on board, and I'm really excited about the opportunity this presents. I'm going to keep things simple yet focused." Ostrosky said his short-term goals are twofold: to investigate the best ways to continue to meet customers and prospects' needs, and to conduct internal operational reviews to determine whether Selectica's departments can execute more efficiently. Ostrosky's long-term goal is to continue to drive shareholders value. Dexterra, a provider of mobile enterprise servers, applications, and tools, announced that Phillip Swan has joined the company as COO. Swan will be responsible for worldwide sales, operations, and partner development. He brings two decades of experience in technology and telecommunications to the firm. Swan was most recently vice president, device solutions sales, at Microsoft, where he was responsible for creating and implementing sales and channel strategies. Swan rounds out a team that has been assembled over the past two years by Rob Laoughan, the company's CEO and founder. Veridiem, a provider of marketing effectiveness software, has appointed Jeff Levitan COO. Levitan is a consumer goods and retail industry veteran. Previously he served as vice chairman of the TransNational Group and was an executive officer with Staples. His duties at Veridiem will include directing the company's go-to-market strategies in automotive and consumer packaged goods industries. He will also be responsible for all customer-facing operations. Kalido, a data warehousing software vendor, has announced that James Foy, CEO and director of Concerto Software, will join Kalido's board as non-executive director. Foy comes with an extensive background in managing rapid-growth companies, including Informix Software, where he served as president, and Ardent Software, where he served as executive vice president of engineering. CRM vendor E.piphany has appointed Ashok Santhanam to the position of senior vice president of worldwide field operations. Santhanam will be responsible for worldwide operations of sales, professional services, and customer training and education. He has more than 20 years sales and executive management experience in the technology industry. Most recently Santhanam ran a management consulting firm helping technology companies manage offshore initiatives and business outsourcing. He also founded Inventa, a systems integration firm that focused on CRM and e-commerce solutions. Edify, a supplier of voice and speech solutions, announced the appointment of Jim Wambach as vice president of worldwide sales operations. Wambach will focus on delivering to customers and prospects the company's message of enabling companies worldwide to increase operational efficiency by automating speech processes. Empirix, a provider of integrated testing and management solutions for Web and voice applications and VoIP networks, announced that it has expanded its management team with the addition of three executives: Jeff Fried, CTO for Empirix's Enterprise Solutions Group; Jim Eliason, vice president of finance; and Duane Sword, vice president of marketing for the Communications Infrastructure Group. Fried comes from the contact applications firm Unveil Technologies. As CTO of Empirix's Enterprise Solutions Group, Fried will work with customers, analysts, and industry consultants to determine ways of better serving customer needs. Eliason was CEO of telecommunications firm Narad Networks. As vice president of finance for Empirix, Eliason will oversee the finance, IT, facilities, and legal functions of the company. Sword comes from Agilent Technologies, where he held a number of senior management positions, including business unit marketing manager for communications test equipment. As vice president of marketing for Empirix, Sword will define and market new products and service offerings to customers. Related article: Transitions: Executive Changes for October 19, 2004

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